Present:

Cllr P Chambers
Cllr Mrs B Charlton
Cllr N J Chard
Cllr N R G Clarke
Cllr D R Cole
Cllr D E Cracknell
Cllr M F J Daly
Cllr Mrs L C Ford
Cllr N W Light
Cllr W S Rippon-Swaine
Cllr Mrs V A Sullivan
Cllr B H Terry
Cllr M H Thierry
Cllr N Wood

In Attendance:

Terry Simpson, Town Clerk
Jo Stannard, Deputy Town Clerk

Cllr Thierry said that it had been a privilege and honour to serve the Town as Mayor for the past two years and thanked members for all their support during this time. He thanked the committed and professional staff at the Town Council, especially the Town Clerk and Deputy Town Clerk and paid tribute to his PA, Mrs Wickens who he said had been an absolute gem.

C/4400 Absence

All members were present.

C/4401 Declarations of Interest

There were none.

C/4402 Election of Town Mayor

There were two nominations for Town Mayor, as follows:

Cllr Ford proposed by Cllr Clarke and seconded by Cllr Rippon-Swaine and Cllr Mrs Charlton.

Cllr Cracknell ­ proposed by Cllr Terry and seconded by Cllr Cole.

A secret ballot was requested by more than two members, in accordance with Standing Orders.

Cllr Cracknell was elected as Mayor for the ensuing year.

C/4403 Declaration of Acceptance of Office by Town Mayor

Cllr Cracknell signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, witnessed by the Town Clerk.

C/4404 Election of Deputy Town Mayor

There were two nominations for Deputy Town Mayor, as follows:
.
Cllr Chard ­ proposed by Cllr Cole and seconded by Cllr Terry.

Cllr Ford ­ proposed by Cllr Clarke and seconded by Cllr Rippon-Swaine.

A secret ballot was requested by more than two members, in accordance with Standing Orders.

The vote was tied and the Mayor had the casting vote.

Cllr Chard was elected as Deputy Mayor for the ensuing year.

Cllr Thierry left the meeting at 7.15pm.

C/4405 Declaration of Acceptance of Office by Deputy Town Mayor

Cllr Chard signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, witnessed by the Town Clerk.

C/4406 Minutes of Previous Meetings

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 27th April 2005, having been circulated, were approved and signed as a correct record.

C/4407 Minutes of Committees

i) Planning, Town & Environment

Cllr Clarke presented the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee held on 29th April 2005.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee held on 29th April 2005 be approved and adopted.

ii) Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces

Cllr Light presented the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee held on 4th May 2005.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee held on 4th May 2005, including the recommendations contained therein, be approved and adopted.

iii) Policy & Finance

Cllr Chard presented the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee held on 18th May 2005.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee held on 18th May 2005, including the recommendations contained therein, be approved and adopted.

C/4408 Appointment of Members to Standing Committees

i) Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces

RESOLVED: That the following members be appointed to the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee for the remainder of period of office of councillors ­ Cllrs Mrs Charlton, Cole, Daly, Ford, Light, Mrs Sullivan, and Wood, together with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as ex officio members.

ii) Planning, Town & Environment

RESOLVED: That the following members be appointed to the Planning, Town & Environment Committee for the remainder of period of office of councillors ­ Cllrs Clarke, Mrs Charlton, Cole, Daly, Terry and Wood, together with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as ex officio members, leaving one vacancy on this committee.

C/4409 Public Open Session

No members of the public wished to speak.

C/4410 Communications to be Received

The following correspondence was noted:

i) Letter from Victim Support (New Forest & Romsey) thanking the Council for its grant aid of £300.

ii) Letter from John Waddington thanking the Council for the signed copy of "Ringwood Remembered" presented to him on his retirement from local government.

C/4411 Friends of Fordingbridge Hospital

A letter had been received from The Friends of Fordingbridge Hospital asking for the Council's support in campaigning against the possible closure of the hospital. Cllr Clarke said that this would fall within the remit of the County Council's Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, of which he was now a member.

He reported that this was part of the Primary Care Trust's review of the level of provision across the New Forest and that one of its aims was to care for people in their homes, rather than in hospitals. He would keep the Council informed of any discussions.

Cllr Cracknell and Cllr Mrs Sullivan said that the hospital provided an invaluable service to many people from Ringwood.

RESOLVED: That the efforts being made by The Friends of Fordingbridge Hospital to retain the existing hospital be supported.

C/4412 Questions of the Mayor

Cllr Mrs Sullivan: asked why the Direct Information Service publication from NALC was only being distributed to members on email. The Town Clerk replied that, as it was several pages long and much of the information was not of interest to town councillors, it had been decided not to copy it. However, as Cllr Mrs Sullivan had requested a copy, he would arrange for this to be sent to her in future.

C/4413 Reports From County and District Councillors

County Councillor N Clarke submitted a report (Annex `A'), which was circulated to members.

Cllr Cracknell announced that Cllr Michael Pemberton had been elected as Chairman of New Forest District Council, with Cllr David Scott as his Vice-Chairman.

Cllr Light asked why the public toilets had been recently re-painted when they were scheduled to be replaced. District Cllr Paul Woods replied that there was an ongoing programme for the replacement of toilets and that there were considerable costs involved ­ the recently completed toilets at Milford-on-Sea had cost £191,000 and the toilets in Calshot would be replaced next year. It was noted that the Ringwood toilets were not due to be replaced imminently.

Cllr Chris Treleaven introduced himself as the new District Councillor for Ringwood East & Sopley, replacing Ann Drake. It was noted that he was a member of the Planning Development Control Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Economy and Planning Review Panel.

C/4414 Appointment of Representatives to Outside Bodies

Members reviewed the list of representatives on outside bodies. It was noted that Ringwood Twinning Association had been disbanded but that all the information had been passed to the Town Council. Cllr Mrs Charlton had spoken to several people who would like to see the Association revived and cultural exchanges introduced. The Town Clerk recommended that if the Council wished to promote the revival of the Association, more members would need to be involved.

RESOLVED: That members be appointed to the following organisations for the remainder of period of office of councillors or until the representative ceases to be a Town Councillor, whichever is earlier.

Organisations	Current Representative(s)
New Forest Association of Local Councils	Cllr Clarke	Cllr Light
Ringwood Twinning Association	Cllr Thierry	Cllr Mrs Charlton
	Cllr Daly	Cllr Cole
Ringwood & District Community Association	Cllr Terry	(Cllr Thierry reserve)
Ringwood & District CAB	Cllr Mrs Sullivan
Forest Forge Theatre Company	Cllr Cracknell	Cllr Ford
New Forest Consultative Panel	Cllr Clarke
Youth Liaison	Cllr Terry
The Ringwood Society	Cllr Chard
Ringwood Tourism Group	Cllr Chambers	Cllr Clarke
Ringwood United Charities	Cllr Thierry
NFDC Flooding/Drainage Officer	Cllr Light	Cllr Chard
HCC Public Transport Representative	Cllr Thierry
Hampshire Association of Town & Parish Councils	Cllr Mrs Sullivan

It was noted that School Governors had previously been elected for a term of 4 years as follows:

Poulner Junior School ­ Governor	No minor authority governor.
Poulner Infant School ­ Governor	No minor authority governor.
Ringwood Junior School - Governor	Cllr Thierry	Term ends May 2007
Ringwood Infant School - Governor	Mr Russell Collins	4 year term ends 21/10/05

C/4415 Annual Subscriptions

RESOLVED: That the following Annual Subscriptions for 2005/06 be approved:

South East Employers
Hampshire Association of Parish & Town Councils (HAPTC)
Society of Local Council Clerks
Institute of Groundsmen
Hampshire Wildlife Society
Local Council Advisory Service
Confederation of Burial Authorities
Direct Information Service (NALC)

Forthcoming Meetings

May/June 2005
Planning, Town & Environment	2.05 p.m.	Friday 27th May
Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces	7.00pm	Wednesday 1st June
Policy & Finance	7.00pm	Wednesday 15th June
Planning, Town & Environment	2.05 pm	Friday 24th June
Full Council	7.00pm	Wednesday 29th June

C/4417 Urgent Business

The Mayor reported that plans were well in hand for Ringwood Festival, the main day of which would be Saturday 16th July. He asked for anyone interested in becoming involved to contact him.

C/4418 Adjournment of Meeting

At 7.47pm it was agreed to adjourn the meeting until the end of the individual committee meetings.

On resumption of the meeting at 7.51pm:

C/4419 Appointment of Members to the Policy & Finance Committee

RESOLVED:

1) That the membership of the Policy & Finance Committee be increased to 8 members, plus the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

2) That the following members be appointed to the Policy & Finance Committee for the remainder of period of office of councillors ­ Cllrs Chambers, Clarke, Daly, Ford, Light, Rippon-Swaine, Terry, and Mrs Sullivan, together with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as ex officio members.

The Mayor declared the meeting closed at 7.54pm.

Annex `A'

Hampshire County Council ­ May 2005:

Report by County Councillor Nigel Clarke

Introduction:

I have attended my first Full Council on Monday, 16th May where most of the business was procedural & concerned with appointments of Leader & Chairman of the Council, Chairpersons & composition of various internal & external committees.

I have been appointed to:

Environment Policy Review Committee;

& Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee (this body is externally focused on the operation & impact of the NHS in Hampshire). This committee will meet on Tuesday, 31 May.

Other matters:

Information only ­ the Ringwood Walking & Cycling Project Phase 2, which starts Monday, 23 May, covers the Southampton Road from the roundabout to Poulner. Part of the work covers the widening of the footpath outside Nos 72 to 84 Southampton Road, which will require the purchase of up to a 1.00m strip from the owners.

HCC Forward Plan ­ June to September 2005 ­ key decisions:		By when
Item 1	South East Plan.....including options for district housing figures.	24 November 2005
Item 3	Hampshire Minerals & Waste ­ Issues & Options	25 July 2005
Item 30	Passenger Transport Strategy	25 July 2005
Item 33	Local transport Plan 2006 ­ 2011	21 July 2005
Item 36	Hampshire District Community Strategies	May 2005 onwards
Item 37	Local Partnership Community Safety Strategies 2005 ­ 2008 - Endorsement	June to July 2005

I have included these key decisions from the 37 No that will be decided within the next three months as evidence that strategic decisions are being made, some very far reaching, that will affect all of us. The questions I must ask: were we aware, if so, did we reply in manner commensurate with their gravity, if we were not aware, why not & who is making judgements on our behalf ?